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Steelers Season Preview · Steelers Country Weekly

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Today on Steelers Country Weekly. It is our first weekly
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: installment of the twenty twenty four season. We are so back, baby.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: We are gonna break through every single week. I said breakthrough.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: It's already my first misspeak of the season too.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: We are gonna break down every single game of the
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four season. Today, we'll go through game by game,
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  Speaker 1: give you our final season predictions. We're gonna give you
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: a detailed breakdown of the game in Atlanta, talk about
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  Speaker 1: all the Steelers news to get you caught up from
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: this offseason, namely the Brandon Ayuk trade saga, the alleged
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  Speaker 1: quarterback battle, everything, and then we're gonna talk a little
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: bit of fantasy football and just shoot the breeze as
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  Speaker 1: we always do on Steelers Country Weekly, I'm Nick Detulio
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  Speaker 1: and as always I'm joined by the world famous accountant,
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  Speaker 1: Eric Vaminshutten. Eric, how are you tonight?
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  Speaker 2: Can't come play? Can't the Uh? I love that football?
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  Speaker 3: That's that's basically been waiting for this for you know,
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  Speaker 3: six months thereabouts been a little bit longer. Uh, And
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: it's been quite a long I mean, I don't know
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: about you.
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  Speaker 2: I watched a little bit of the Olympics. That was fun,
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  Speaker 2: but gosh, I can't Summer is a little bit of
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: a rough stretch.
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  Speaker 3: So you know, give me the Colorado North Dakota State game.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I'm with you. It is interesting for me
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  Speaker 1: because I do have the Braves right in my backyard
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  Speaker 1: and they're normally competitive, but they're not out of it yet.
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  Speaker 1: But when your best player and your best picture get hurt,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: it is really tough to, you know, put that into
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  Speaker 1: a World Series run. So I think people like to
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: have a good ball.
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  Speaker 2: What's that like? You know, it was?
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  Speaker 1: It was so interesting in such a different experience. I
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: think we've talked about it on the show before, but
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  Speaker 1: the Braves baseball fans are crazy. Again. I work right
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  Speaker 1: outside the stadium and those people line up two to
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  Speaker 1: three hours before a baseball game on a Wednesday, and
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  Speaker 1: they still do it even though the team is realistically
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  Speaker 1: not going to be winning the World Series this year.
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  Speaker 1: So I do have to say it is quite refreshing
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  Speaker 1: to be a part of, or to at least be
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  Speaker 1: near that. I won't say that I'm a big Braves fan,
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  Speaker 1: but again, just to be near that it's different for us.
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  Speaker 1: You're right, We're used to the reds where the owners
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  Speaker 1: literally tell you, well, what are you going to do?
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  Speaker 1: Go somewhere else? So, but now I'm a football fan,
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  Speaker 1: football first and foremost, so I am glad we were back.
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  Speaker 1: You alluded to college football that is on as we speak.
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  Speaker 1: You've got several games, the two big ones Colorado, North
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  Speaker 1: Dakota State and then Minnesota North Carolina. I don't have
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  Speaker 1: those on, so I'm gonna have to check that out
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  Speaker 1: when we get back up or when we when I
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: go back upstairs after we're done recording here. But I'm
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  Speaker 1: with you at a score update, but yes, give us
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  Speaker 1: the live breaking score update.
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  Speaker 3: So Colorado is up fourteen to ten on North Dakota State.
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  Speaker 2: North Dakota State. They went down there and they marched
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  Speaker 2: down that field.
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  Speaker 3: They took the lead and but you know, big splash
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  Speaker 3: play shador he hit a long past about so and
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  Speaker 3: actually a good score update right now North Carolina State,
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  Speaker 3: number twenty four is tied with West Carolina. So maybe
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  Speaker 3: another upset in the in the books. After Florida State
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  Speaker 3: went down, so chaos.
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  Speaker 1: Already, my goodness. Yeah, And like you said, Florida State
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  Speaker 1: goes down in Dublin so literally the very first game
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  Speaker 1: of the year, magic things are happening, so we can
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  Speaker 1: only hope the NFL is the same way. But that
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  Speaker 1: being the case, it's already Week one in the NFL,
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  Speaker 1: So we got to talk about some Pittsburgh Steelers in
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  Speaker 1: preview that matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Pittsburgh is coming
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  Speaker 1: to Atlanta, my hometown, and I will be at the
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  Speaker 1: game in attendance with the world famous realtor of Max Gemerith,
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  Speaker 1: friend of ours, also from Cincinnati. Interesting to see that
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: he is not He is just one of the few
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: friends I have in the city and it's pretty funny.
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  Speaker 1: I sent it him. I sent it him. I sent
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  Speaker 1: him a text, just said, hey, do you want to
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  Speaker 1: go to the Falcons first game this year? I got
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  Speaker 1: tickets already, and he said, hey, that's awesome. Yeah, I'd
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  Speaker 1: love to go. You'll notice I didn't tell them who
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  Speaker 1: they were playing, and then he said, who are they playing?
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  Speaker 1: If it's the Steelers, I'm going to kill you. I
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  Speaker 1: sent him one of those gifts of Mike Tomlin staring
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  Speaker 1: down the camera and then pointing or something. So he's like,
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  Speaker 1: oh great, all right, well yeah I'll go. So I
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  Speaker 1: would love to be able to bring one of my
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  Speaker 1: kids to the game, but my son loves animals, so
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  Speaker 1: he won't cheer for the right team, and my daughter
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  Speaker 1: has a very short attention span. And I'd like to
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  Speaker 1: stay past the first quarter given what I paid for
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  Speaker 1: these nosebleed tickets. So so yeah, that's what I'll say.
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  Speaker 1: I'm going with someone that can stay the whole game.
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  Speaker 1: It's gonna be great. I've been to Mercedes Benz Stadium once,
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  Speaker 1: very nice stadium. I'm very much looking forward to it.
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  Speaker 1: I'm so glad football is back, and I just can't
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  Speaker 1: believe that here we are ready again to talk about
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  Speaker 1: week one.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you get those really affordable concessions.
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  Speaker 1: That is true. The last time I went, I wasn't
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  Speaker 1: super impressed because I think part of the reason they're
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  Speaker 1: so cheap is because you have a very limited selection.
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  Speaker 1: But you know what, saving money is never a bad thing,
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  Speaker 1: so I'll leave it at that.
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  Speaker 2: Right in this economy, I'll take you.
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  Speaker 1: In addition to the cheap concessions, it's free soda refills too,
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  Speaker 1: and that if that's not a value in itself, then
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what is. So let's just get right
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  Speaker 1: into it and talked about week one. My goodness, preseason's
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  Speaker 1: finally over. Russell Wilson is the starting quarterback. We were
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  Speaker 1: talking before we recorded. I didn't think that that was surprising.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Some people were trying to push that it was, but
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  Speaker 1: in neither case. He will be the starter for Week
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  Speaker 1: one going against the Falcons. Such an interesting game, a
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  Speaker 1: lot of cool storylines here. The Falcons have a new
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  Speaker 1: coach because their old head coach is now the Steelers
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  Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith. He's tasked with turning around an
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  Speaker 1: offense that was led by Matt Canada and Kenny Pickett
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  Speaker 1: last year. It's a very different team and the Falcons
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  Speaker 1: themselves are a very different team too. They brought in
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  Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins, a quarterback to replace our favorite Desmond Ritter,
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  Speaker 1: who's already been released by the Cardinals, which is interesting.
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  Speaker 1: They go on from Kirk Cousins to draft Michael Pennix
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  Speaker 1: Junior in the first round of the draft, so it
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  Speaker 1: was very clearly the most interesting pick of the draft.
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  Speaker 1: But then the Falcons have done another good job of
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  Speaker 1: loading up on the defensive side of the ball as well.
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  Speaker 1: So when you look at everything, I mean the first
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  Speaker 1: Game of the year is always going to be the
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  Speaker 1: toughest one to predict because you have nothing to go
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  Speaker 1: on other than the preseason, and we remember how that
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  Speaker 1: went last year for us, right, So it is kind
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  Speaker 1: of a tall task, especially when you consider the crazy
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  Speaker 1: road that both of these teams took to get to
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  Speaker 1: this point. But I'll ask you, Eric, as I typically
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  Speaker 1: do week in and week out, looking at this game
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  Speaker 1: and looking at these two teams to kick off Week one,
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  Speaker 1: what are some of the keys for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we might have new faces in the quarterback room.
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  Speaker 2: But our offensive woes have not changed. I don't think that.
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  Speaker 3: At least week one, this is gonna be a different
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  Speaker 3: team than what we saw probably the last two years,
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  Speaker 3: basically since Roethlisberger is retired. Ye, so yeah, I mean
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  Speaker 3: really is just gonna be defense having to step up.
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  Speaker 3: Hopefully our running backs have been the continuity of that offensive.
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  Speaker 2: Because we have new offensivelignemen.
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  Speaker 3: So we have a rookie center because our other center
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  Speaker 3: went down from injury. I'm not sure if our first
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  Speaker 3: round tackle is going to start. I heard Roderick Jones
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  Speaker 3: has been a lot of trouble. So offensive lie still
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  Speaker 3: not great wide receiver Roue still not great.
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  Speaker 2: Russell Wilson.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think anyone believes that this is Russell Wilson
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  Speaker 3: circa twenty fourteen.
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  Speaker 2: So, you know, I think that heroics from our TJ. Watt.
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  Speaker 3: Luckily, you know it's week one, you don't have to
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  Speaker 3: worry about anyone from the.
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  Speaker 2: Team really being injured.
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  Speaker 3: So and I feel like when I think of our
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  Speaker 3: Week one matchups, I don't know about you.
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  Speaker 2: I think back there was a game, maybe it might
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  Speaker 2: be like five.
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  Speaker 3: Years ago now, yeah, so right around the corner, but
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  Speaker 3: Brown Steelers played Week one. It was an ugly game,
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  Speaker 3: went overtime, ended up tying that game, and how disgusting
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  Speaker 3: of a game that was. I think it was. Was
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  Speaker 3: it maybe two years ago the Steelers played the Bengals
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  Speaker 3: and that was when they had trouble holding, snapping and
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  Speaker 3: kicking of football and somehow we squeaked out a win there.
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  Speaker 3: So in typical Steelers fashion, I think the key to
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  Speaker 3: this game is win and win and ugly.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it is very interesting that you said that
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  Speaker 1: because those games, particularly the Bengals game, are what kind
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  Speaker 1: of came to my mind, because you're right, while we
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  Speaker 1: do have the new faces, we do have a lot
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  Speaker 1: of the same faces, and some of the struggles that
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  Speaker 1: we're seeing are the same struggles that we've had for
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  Speaker 1: some time. So you mentioned what's going on on the
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  Speaker 1: offensive line. Agree with that wide receiver room is pretty sparse.
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  Speaker 1: You mentioned You mentioned that, and we can talk about
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  Speaker 1: it a little more in depth outside of the context
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  Speaker 1: of this one game. But the Brandon Ayuk trade, that
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  Speaker 1: drama that had been dragging on all off season finally
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: came to an end today when he agreed to a
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: contract extension with the forty nine Ers. So it's not
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  Speaker 1: like any more help is coming. And keep in mind
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  Speaker 1: that to shore up the defensive secondary, the Steelers had
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: to trade Deontay Johnson, so they're down to him regardless
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: of what you think of Deontay. So your receivers are
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  Speaker 1: George Pickens at number one, assuming he's healthy. Roman Wilson,
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  Speaker 1: the rookie out of Michigan, I guess at number two.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if he would be number two or not,
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  Speaker 1: But then you got Van Jefferson is your number two
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  Speaker 1: or three right there. So I think while I'm optimistic
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  Speaker 1: about Roman Wilson, haven't seen him play down yet, and
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: he's hurt, So let's just assume that he's number three.
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  Speaker 1: You've got a pretty steep drop off. I think from
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: George Pickens to Van Jefferson, and even George Pickens has
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: not been perfect in his career. Don't get me wrong,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: I will give the guy every benefit of the doubt,
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: but this is his first chance to step up and
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  Speaker 1: be the true number one, right, so that leaves a
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  Speaker 1: lot to be answered. And then again, you're exactly right
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  Speaker 1: with Russell Wilson. This is not twenty fourteen Russell Wilson.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: This is twenty twenty four Russell Wilson. And while I
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  Speaker 1: do think that he is definitely a big upgrade on
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  Speaker 1: where the Steelers were last year with Kenny Pickett and
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Mitch Trubisky in particular, and probably Mason rue A well,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: that Rudolph played by far the best of all the
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Steelers quarterbacks, there's still a lot that needs to be
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: seen because even in Denver there were some struggles, and
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  Speaker 1: he had Sean Payton with him too. It's not like
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  Speaker 1: he had Nathaniel Hackett for both years. He had a
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  Speaker 1: Super Bowl winning pedigree coach for one of his seasons there,
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  Speaker 1: So I will say I love the attitude that Russell
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  Speaker 1: Wilson's brought. I love everything he's said and done since
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  Speaker 1: he's been there. I think he's got all the intangibles
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  Speaker 1: of the leader that I would hope someone of his
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  Speaker 1: stature has. But at the same time, you got to
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  Speaker 1: show it to me on the field too, So he
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: actually needs to take a page out of Big Ben's book,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: I think if his receivers will allow him to do that.
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  Speaker 1: And what I say is Ben had a very similar
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: problem to Russell Wilson earlier in his career and caught.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe I shouldn't say a problem, but one of Ben's
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  Speaker 1: characteristics is that he would hold onto the ball for
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  Speaker 1: two too long, trying to make something happen, and then really,
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  Speaker 1: come twenty twenty, he had the quickest release time in
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  Speaker 1: the NFL and it wasn't even close. They were getting
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: rid of the ball within two seconds every play. So
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's got to do that every play,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: but can't be holding onto the ball like you have
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  Speaker 1: been your whole career. You're gonna have to get rid
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: of the ball sooner.
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  Speaker 4: Defensively, you say that too, because I saw a stat
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  Speaker 4: that Russell Wilson, if he keeps the pace of what
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: he's done through his career, will pass Tom Brady for
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  Speaker 4: the most sacked by a quarterback in NFL history, though
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: he's played like ten years less than.
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  Speaker 2: Which is insane.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, right behind that list has been so.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it definitely is a style of play.
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes maybe not always a reflection on the offensive line.
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  Speaker 2: But.
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  Speaker 1: No, and I think it's a bit of the offensive line.
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  Speaker 1: It's a bit of the quarterback's own tendencies too, But
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  Speaker 1: that being said, you got to make changes at some point.
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  Speaker 1: So the other thing too, that makes this hard to
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: analyze is with the new offensive coordinator. He's been criticized
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: before too for overthinking things. For example, again this is
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: just anecdotal evidence. Back in Tennessee, it could be third
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: and inches and he would try to outsmart the other
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: team and throw a pass instead of handing the ball
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: off to literal Derreck Henry in the backfield. And same
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: thing we saw in Atlanta with Bejon Robinson being drafted
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: last year. Really the way they utilized him was just
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: so confusing because he was head and shoulders above every
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: other running back in the draft last year, and then
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: it was just confusing. He was not the featured back
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: that he should have been. And when you come into
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: the Steelers, who have had their own struggles, offensively no
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: sugarcoat in that. You also know that you need to
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: make changes yourself. So what are we gonna see. Are
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: we gonna see Russell Wilson with those quick releases? Are
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: we gonna see a lot of two and three down
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: like two tight end sets with the two beasts of
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: tight ends that we supposedly have and Friarmouth and Washington.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know. The preseason has not been any indication
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: that we're going to see much of a change at all.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: I understand that the preseason is just the preseason and
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: you have to take it with a big grain of salt,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: but I would have liked to have seen some improvement.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: And again last year, the Steelers like killed it in
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: the preseason. We thought that we were maybe we didn't
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: say it on the show, but we were pretty optimistic
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: because while we had said at the time you have
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: to take it with a grain of salt, they seem
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: to be doing everything right in the preseason and then
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: came Week one against San Francisco and they laid an
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: egg maybe we're doing an opposite things this year. Maybe
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: we're just you know, holding all the cards close to
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: our vest and then we're gonna come out guns of
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: blazon on Sunday. But I don't know, let's be optimistic
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: just until the Week one game is over. But on
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: speaking of the changes that or what happened in Atlanta
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: last year, that's kind of what we expect to see
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: this season is a more traditional approach to things. You've
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: got Kirk Cousins, big pocket passer. He is coming off
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: of his own pretty significant injury that seems to have
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: healed up nicely for what it is. Obviously, they've got
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: what they feel is a starting caliber backup quarterback. So
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: again I wouldn't have drafted him, but I'm not a GM.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: And they've made some move on the defensive side of
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: the ball, and they've really tried to shore things up here.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: They've got their own playmakers and Kyle Pitts. We always
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: go back to superstar tight ends killing the Steelers. Everyone's
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: been waiting for Kyle Pitts to actually have that breakout
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: and I really just hope it's not against us this week.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: But look, this game, to me is a toss up.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: I think it could go either way. Going all the
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: way back to your original point about the Steelers winning ugly,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I don't think they've shown you, or me or anyone
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  Speaker 1: anything that would indicate that they're going to come into
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  Speaker 1: this game and win by skill alone. It's going to
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: have to be an ugly win. And I feel like
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I say this every year at the halfway point, but
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: I'm going to say it at the starting point now.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: If the Steelers are going to win, TJ. Watt is
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: going to have to take that defense and put it
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: on his shoulders and carry them to a victory. I
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: think that this is he's going to get his Well,
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: I won't say he will because I don't want to
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: do an injury jinks or anything, but he's going to
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: have to have a defensive player of the Year type
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: performance for most of the season for the Steelers. I think,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: based on what we know now, to have that similar
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: record of the last year ten wins and then getting
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: to the playoffs and hopefully getting a win in the playoffs.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: But again, I can't stress this enough. Using history as
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: our indication and seeing what we've seen so far in
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the preseason. While I'm happy with the draft. I'm happy
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: with the offensive coordinator higher, I just haven't seen anything
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: put into practice yet that I can hang my hat
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: on and say, Yep, we are definitely moving in the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: right direction.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would feel stuck.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: I think that there's still excitement about us finally making
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: a change, but whether the change is the right one
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: is still to be determined. So yeah, I mean, look,
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: good Steelers football is Mike Tomlin football. I don't think
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: that like anyone's gonna confuse us for an Andy Reid
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: led team.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, but.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: I feel like there's also been people that have doubted
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: the Steelers for at least the last two years.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: I would say these two.
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: People on this podcast, included especially Met said I'm just
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: not really confident, and yet they still maybe either meet
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: or expectations or slightly exceed them. So I don't know,
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: there's something intangible about the team that just always kind
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: of gets the job kind of done.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: So I agree with that. So that being said, I
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: am hoping that we see a big emphasis on the
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: run game this year. I would really love to see
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: either one of Naji Harris or Jail and Warren have
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: just this huge breakout year we've seen. I think probably
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: about as good of a running back by committee as
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: you reasonably can have in the NFL today with the
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: two of them. And I know at times we've been
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: more high on Jail and Warren, and maybe some of
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: that is unfair to Nagy, just because of where the
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: perception around where Nagy was drafted versus where Jail and
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Warren I guess wasn't drafted. So Nagy may have higher expectations,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: whereas Jail and Warren seems like more of a pleasant surprise.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: But so that's one thing I would like to see.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I also have both of them on my fantasy football
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: team this year, so three thousand rushing yard season for
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: each of them would be fantastic. I know that's selfish,
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: But on the other side of the ball, we've got
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Deshaan Elliott, We've got Patrick Queen coming over. So I
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: just think that I'll go back to saying it again,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: everything we've done in theory has been I think the
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: right move. I'm just not seeing the results yet that
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I would like to see. So, like you said, we're
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: stuck looking at this week one game. I think this
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: is one of the most interesting matchups of the week
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: when you consider what's going on with the team, what's
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: going on with the Falcons, who the offensive coordinator is
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: for the Steelers, and that they're playing his old team,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: and really both the quarterback and the backup quarterback situation
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: on both sides at the ball. I don't know, man,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: I think this is a coin flip. I'm going to
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: give the Steelers the win, I guess, and I guess
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: I'll just throw a number out there and say seventeen
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: to fourteen. I have This is probably the least confident
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: I've ever been in any sort of prediction that we've made.
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a tough one to go with. Yeah, I
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: think this is more of a vote of like I
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: don't believe in the Falcons, and I believe more in Tomlin.
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: I mean, if I hadn't just given advantage and say
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: what the advantage has to be, it's we're talking about.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: Tomlin at this point.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: Is the sixteen year vet seventeen year vet versus a
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: guy is a first year head coach. So and I
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: mean even the quarterback. I mean, like I think Kirk
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: is healthy, but like we're talking about a guy that
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: came up of a.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Loan Achilles so.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: Who has not been known to come and play in
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: the right situation. I know it's a it's not a
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: primetime game first week, so yeah, for that, I'm gonna
• 24:30
  Speaker 3: go Steelers as well. Maybe I'm just gonna be I'd
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: like to view myself a little bit more of an optimist,
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: given though I'm not. Maybe I'm gonna give ourselves more
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: offensive firepower in this prediction than you are. I'm gonna
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: give him an extra touchdown, So I'm gonna go We're
• 24:55
  Speaker 3: gonna win twenty four to twenty.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, there you go. We have the ultra
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: confident pick that the Steelers are going to start the
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: season one to Oh yeah, I kind of we alluded
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: to it, but I didn't really say it outright. The
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: other thing, too, is that no one knows what's going
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: on with the Falcons. It's not just we don't know
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: what's going on with us, it's the other team is
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: such a mystery too. So that's the other part. You know,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: if the Steelers were playing the Eagles, then I think
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: we both know what the Week one prediction would be,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: no matter what, right, Obviously, it would be that Kenny
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Pickett would come off the bench and torch the Steelers
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: for like five hundred yards. Okay, wow, not even a laugh.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Out of that one.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: Anyway, moving on, I.
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: Was hoping for something a little bit more realistic. There's
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: no way I was I was going to acknowledge that
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: five hundred yards of the season.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Maybe, Yeah, he's gonna play us twelve weeks in a row.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, at this point, we like to go
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: through week by a week, we'll give our predictions. I'll
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: tally up the wins and losses at the end here.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: You and I normally have the same or a very
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: similar record, but we sometimes will end up picking different
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: games that are wins and losses, so it's always interesting
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: to see where we end up. At some point, I
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: will actually save this and we can go back at
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: the season's over and see specifically what we got right
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and wrong. But I think we've been pretty spot on
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: with our total wins and losses so far. So most
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: seasons we do this season probably not. Let's get to it. Then,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: the following week one is going to be and let
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: me pull up the schedule here. I did type this
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: all out and excel, but I didn't actually notate what
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: was home and away, so it's a loss for me.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: After the game in Atlanta, the Steelers are going to
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: travel to Denver for the Russell Wilson Revenge Tour. I'll
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: just ask you first on all these to give your
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: prediction and your thoughts first, and then I'll go Broncos.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: What do you think is going to happen?
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that. I think the Broncos
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: are kind of a mess.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: So part of the reason why I was kind of
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: excited that Russell came was because I didn't think that
• 27:45
  Speaker 3: Russell was the issue.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: I think Sean Payton is an issue. I think he.
• 27:55
  Speaker 3: Sometimes, you know, like when we got into like the
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: Bill Belichick versus Tom Brady thing, like who was the
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: one that had the success, I think we're kind of
• 28:04
  Speaker 3: starting to see it was Drew Brees. So I don't
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: believe in the Broncos. I'm believe Sean Payton. If I
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: gave advantage to coaching in week one, I think that
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: the old birds going against each other.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: People have been there basically since the turn of the century.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with Tomlin again two and now Steelers.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: I will not be optimistic, and I really don't have
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: a good reason. I agree with everything you say, other
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: than I know it's not the West Coast, but I
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: just don't see the Steelers making this trip and actually
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: taking care of business. Simply all it comes down to.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: I wish I had a more football reason than that.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: But we've seen time and time again road games the
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: Steelers should win handedly where they travel to the West
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Coast or somewhere in the western half of the country
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: and they just choke. So I'm just going with my
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: gut on that one. I agree with you on paper,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: I think the Steelers should win. I don't think it's
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: gonna happen all right. Week three, the Steelers home opener
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: will be against the LA Chargers. What are your thoughts
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: this one.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: I'm having a hard time so uh, I would love
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: to win.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: It's a home opener, Harball obviously kind of like fun
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: rivalry because it's brothers and you know, another old bird
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: in the league.
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: But I don't know. I just feel like.
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: Chargers are gonna come in and get it done. So
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: two and one Steelers.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I am gonna give the Steelers the win here because
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: it is the home opener. If Chargers haven't really done
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Herbert any favors with as receivers, so I don't know
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: what that's going to be like for him, And again
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: kind of the opposite of what the Steelers have going
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: on the week before. This is a ten am game
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: for the Chargers, probably not a big deal. I think
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: at the pro level that buy and large shouldn't be
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: an issue, but it could be a minor issue at
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: different times. I think that just because it's the home opener,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I think I'm going to give the Steelers the win there,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: so we're both at two and one. The next game
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: is going to be at Indianapolis.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: I think we have poison win at Indy, so like
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: why change it? So, yeah, I think we're gonna win it.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: So you're just going going off a history there, even
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: though we won't be there to personally cheer them on
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: this time.
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and by this time, I'm not wishing injury to anyone,
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: but like Anthony Richards and runs a lot got hanged
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: up pretty quickly. We've seen it before with RG three before,
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: seen an other running quarterbacks, so might not be healthy.
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: They don't have Gardner with Minshew this time, so I
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: don't know. Jim Storchy coming out of the retirement either.
• 31:22
  Speaker 3: Backup quarterback.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know it is dang man all right. Well,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: I was on the fence about this one because the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Colts seemed to be moving in the right direction, but
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: also with Anthony Richardson, we didn't get enough of a
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: sample size last year. I thought to really see what
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: was going to happen. You're right, they don't have Gardner
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Minshew anymore. He's in Vegas. I guess I'll I guess
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: I'll hop on this bandwagon with you for that week
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: and give him the win. So there you got, all right,
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: we both have him at three and one before they
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: host Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: Man, I mean, outside of any other game in the division.
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: He told me any other game on the schedule i'd
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: want to win, it'd be this one.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: But I don't know.
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think that the Cowboys, it's the regular season,
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: a playoff game, so they're pretty darn good those So
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna go Cowboys.
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: It's a night game, Yep, it's tough.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I think at this point, if the if, the
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: if it holds up the way that you and I
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: are looking at it right now. More so me, I
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: think the Steelers will be due for a loss at
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: this point, just knowing how their seasons typically go, I
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: could see them coming out and winning this game, seeing TJ.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Watt having a huge day against Dak Prescott and Dak
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: not having a great day against our overall defense. The
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Dallas running game is back to Zeke Elliott, and I'm
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: not sure how that's gonna work on his reunion tour
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: with them. But I do think the Cowboys overall are
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: a solid team, and I think I'm just with you again.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: I just don't see us walking away with a win here.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: So Cowboys get that win. Following that game, on October thirteenth,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: the Steelers will travel out to Vegas to play the Raiders.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: I hate doing this. I'm going I'm going history again.
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: All I think about with the Raiders is the Charlie
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: Brown Chris Boswell kick. We lack thereof, and like you
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: said earlier, we don't travel well out west. This is
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: purely a definitely a West coast game. We don't play
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: good in the afternoon as well. I don't have SATs
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: in front of me unpaid and turned into his job
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: and given me and prepared for this part of the segment.
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: But I bet if someone did the hard work. They
• 34:19
  Speaker 3: would see that we stink at afternoon games, like not
• 34:24
  Speaker 3: the first lot, not the night game, four o'clock game.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: So we're gonna lose this one.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: I'm actually giving us the win of this one because
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: I'm just I'm not confident in the Raiders right now.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: It's a very poorly rung organization. Tom Brady's not in
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: there yet to take it over and write the ship.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: I agree with you.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and they rolled into Vegas last year and beat
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: him too. Can you Pickett?
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: So on?
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Pa, You're right, Well, we can't keep just saying on paper.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: But it's all right, we have we have got another
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: disagreement here. I'll take the win for the Steelers and
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: then we'll move on. The Steelers come back home for
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: another primetime game, this time hosting the New York Jets. This,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, I'll that you get to it, but this
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: is kind of I feel like you could swap the
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: Jets with the Falcons and we kind of have the
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: same breakdown that we did today for this this first
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: week preview.
• 35:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely, and this is a night game, but.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: And a more established quarterback.
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: But you know what people are really on this, like
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: Jets are gonna be a good thing. Hey, I just
• 35:50
  Speaker 3: don't see it happening. I don't think that this Rogers
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: marriage is gonna work out. I think they have an
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: extremely talent the team, not just Rogers Breese Hall who
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: fantasy people or talking about him having twenty five hundred
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: scrimmage yards this year. I'm blanking on his name with
• 36:13
  Speaker 3: the wide receivers, extremely talented Wilson. Yeah, love me some
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: Sauce Gardner, some UC repping there. Yeah, they got a
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: lot of individual great players.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: But I just don't see them win this game.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: So I think Steeler is gonna win the first of
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: two in a row night games.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: All right. I'll give him the win as well, just
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: because I don't not that I'm saying Aaron Rodgers is
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: going to go down week one again.
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: But I don't know.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: haven't seen enough of them to come together yet to
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: warrant the Jets be these world beaters that a lot
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: of people have alluded to, Like you mentioned, given that
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: it's a night game in Pittsburgh, I will also give
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: the Steelers the win so we both have ws there
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: the week after that will be a Monday night game.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Lots of primetime games in this four week window here,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: five week window, Monday night game at home against the Giants.
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: Oh my god, we don't win this game, so the
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: season's gone. This is okay the Giants hear we out.
• 37:34
  Speaker 3: Here's my prediction. The Giants will get the first overall
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: pick of the whole entire draft. They're the worst team.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: In the league.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna give the Steelers the win here,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: like you, but this this is the game of all
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: the games on their schedule that they would drop that
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: it should be a clear win, right, yeah, like this
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: is the Patriots game line next year, I think. Anyway, Yeah, I'm.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: Waiting till next week we talk about this.
• 38:05
  Speaker 5: But yeah, all right, Okay, after the Giants, the Steelers
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: travel to Washington to take on the Commanders.
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: Okay, so ultimately I'm gonna get the Steelers a win here,
• 38:26
  Speaker 3: but mark my words, this is a trap game after
• 38:32
  Speaker 3: a win after bye mid season, by.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Before we start our gauntlet of.
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: Like our divisional you know, back end of the season,
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: which starts with the Ravens the following week. So if
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: there's one trap game I have to assign to the
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: whole season.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: This is it on paper mentioned it for we should
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: win this game, but I don't know. I I get worried.
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: You said to get a little nervous about a game.
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: This is a game we you know, we shouldn't. We
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: always have that one loss of the year that we
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: shouldn't have lost.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: This would be it for me, all right.
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: Huh.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: So I'm looking at the schedule and I agree that
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: it's a trap game. I've got the Steelers on a
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: three game losing streak and at this point they've only
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: lost two games of the year. I I'll give him
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: the l here just because I feel like I've got
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: too many wins on my schedule. Let's see, let me
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: count it up real quick to see where we're at.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Because we go into the division, we go into a
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: real gauntlet from here on out. It's a it's a
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: very sharp incline from here in quality of opponents. So
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: through nine games, I've got one, two, three, four fives.
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: I'm at six and three and we're both at six
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: and three. So just we've got some different games that
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: don't line up there. So all right, now it gets
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: really tough. Steelers host the Ravens on November seventeenth.
• 40:34
  Speaker 3: To me as the loss I have want to win
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: and it's at home, But I don't know the Ravens are.
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: They got to be the favorite, I think in the
• 40:49
  Speaker 3: division just from the stability of their team. People might
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: assign that to the Bengals from pure but yeah, I
• 41:03
  Speaker 3: find it hard see the same reasons as Cowboys.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: All right, So you're giving them the l I'll give
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: them the win because it's at home and they're surprisingly
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: effective against Lamar Jackson. But I agree with you the
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Ravens should be the favorite. They should win. But looking
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: at my schedule, coming off that humbling loss to the Commanders,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: I think that they would turn it around, and again
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: it would be a typical Steelers mid season thing. Right, Well,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: they'll lose to a team like the Commanders and then
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: come back and beat Lamar Jackson the next week. So
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: I'll give him the win, and I'm sure that you
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: and I will make up that difference on the back
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: end too. Yeah. After that, the Steelers will host the
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns.
• 42:00
  Speaker 3: So as the Browns have been decent lately, I think
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: that they're gonna fall off. I just don't think that
• 42:08
  Speaker 3: the Browns are gonna be as good as they are.
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: And happened, and the main reason is because Nick Chobb.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: Nick Chobb got injured last year during the Steelers game.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: He is the engine that makes that team go.
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: And I some people might say Miles Garrett, defensive Player
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: of the Year, stole it from our tjy last year.
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: Absolute robbery.
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: Don't want to hear anyone ever try to give me
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: a reason that TJ. Watt should not want it last year.
• 42:40
  Speaker 3: Complete lie. Now, Nick Chobb is the hard soul of
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: that team. He might be available by this point in
• 42:48
  Speaker 3: the year.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: I just don't think he's.
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: Gonna be quite the same back running back near you know,
• 42:56
  Speaker 3: with as much weird terror as he has coming off.
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: That kind of major injury. I don't know. So I
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: think they lose, well, the Browns lose, Steelers.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: Win, Yeah, Well, don't forget our boy droom Ford had
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: a pretty good day against the Steelers when that happened.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: I think the Steelers still won that game, though, But
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: I agree with you. Chubb is the heart and soul
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: of that offense. I don't think you can rely on
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: DeShawn Watson. Frankly, and despite how the Browns have improved.
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: The Steelers have typically maintained their success against them, with
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: a few drops here and there. We know the famous
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: helmet game, obviously, the playoff game Buy, and largely the
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Steelers have come out and gotten wins against the Browns
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: when they were supposed to. No, no, I can't even
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: say that. Let me say this. Typically the Steelers take
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: care of business, but when they don't against the Browns,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: they do it in spec tacular fashion, whether it's the
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: games I mentioned or the one they dropped last year
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: which ultimately led them Matt Canada being fired. I do
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: think that with everything you said with the Steelers, I'm
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: with you. I think they're gonna win this one, especially
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: because it's at home as well.
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: So when when and for the third of four consecutive games,
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: the Steelers will now travel to our old stomping grounds,
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: your new stomping grounds, Cincinnati to play the Bengals.
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this one's gonna be a loss for me. Just
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: too much going on. I think the Bengals will be
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: playing pretty well at this point. Yeah, there's reasons.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: A lot of it's gonna come down to Joe Burrow,
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: I think for his I mean, I mean, I hope
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: the guy is healthy, but there is that injury history there,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: and I don't really know that they've taken the appropriate
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: measures to really beef up that line. So I don't
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: think we're gonna have a five and one division record
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: this year either, like we did last year. I will
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: also give the Steelers an L here, and then it
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: is back to the Browns again, second time in three weeks,
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: this time in Cleveland.
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I still I don't think the Browns are that good.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: We're gonna win, man, you are giving us two wins
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: against the Browns. Yeah, I'm gonna give the Steelers an
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: L just because this is the point of the year
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: where they'll probably hit what we consider rock bottom for
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: them before they really have to turn it around, and
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: that'll put them right in there with got four games
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: after this, and they're against four of the top teams
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: in the league. So this is just again it might
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: be a trap game looking looking at what they've got
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: ahead of them. So the game ahead of them that
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: I'm referencing here will be in Philadelphia against the Eagles.
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: I you said we start to slide, we hit rock bottom.
• 46:29
  Speaker 3: This is the start of that slide for me. I
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: don't think December tends to be very favorable for tomlind
• 46:37
  Speaker 3: Led teams, not until they gotta like steer out of
• 46:43
  Speaker 3: his skin and get out of it. So, yep, I
• 46:47
  Speaker 3: got a loss on this one. He's stone is gown.
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I'm feeling a little better about the
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: Eagles game than you. And again, I'm just looking at
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: what I've got in front of me from my own schedule.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: They got two losses leading into this. I think the
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: Eagles came back to earth a little bit this past year,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: although they have done a That's another team that I've
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: been pretty impressed with in their off seasons the last
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: couple of years, with how they address their roster needs.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: That being said, I do not actually believe Kenny Pickett's
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: gonna come in and throw for five hundred yards. I'll
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: give the Steelers a win, and there's really nothing more
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: than just my gut and again looking at the schedule
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: and how I've got it laid out in front of
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: me from the games leading up to this. Yeh, all right.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: That takes us to the rematch in Baltimore.
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Again, I just.
• 47:55
  Speaker 3: I'd love to give us one against the Ravens. I
• 47:58
  Speaker 3: just don't think that we're going to do it.
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: So it's a if.
• 48:02
  Speaker 3: Like I said, this is two weeks in a row
• 48:05
  Speaker 3: we had afternoon games.
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: Not good in the afternoon.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: Honestly, this one might get flexed at that point though
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: to depending on what's going on. Yeah, I'll give him
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: a loss to just because I don't see a sweep
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: in the Ravens for the year again. So and it's
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: in Baltimore really at that point in the season. It's
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: just the if Lamar Jackson is healthy, which I'd usually
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: like to assume when doing these predictions, that they will be.
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: It's the for the Steelers, it's their fifteenth game. The
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: Ravens would have had a buy already too, so it'll
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: be their fifteenth as well. It's probably not quite early
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: enough for the Ravens to start resting their starters unless
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: they've got such a huge lead on second place in
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: the conference. So it's not like you're gonna get the
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: Ravens scrubs like we did in Week seventeen last year
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: or Week eighteen last year. So I assuming Lamar Jackson's healthy,
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: everyone's gonna play. The Ravens are gonna probably take that
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: game as they are most likely still competing for the
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: number one seed in the in the conference. That takes
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: us to the Christmas Day Netflix matchup against Patrick Mahomes
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: and our other Bearcat, Travis Kelcey in Pittsburgh.
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like the Chiefs are.
• 49:37
  Speaker 3: It's like the Tom Brady effect, Like I will not
• 49:40
  Speaker 3: doubt them until they give me reason too. So, no
• 49:44
  Speaker 3: way in heck we're gonna win this game. But we've
• 49:48
  Speaker 3: had a Christmas miracle. I remember when I played the Ravens.
• 49:51
  Speaker 3: I don't think we were favored in that game.
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: We won that one.
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm with you. I think this one's gonna
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: have to be a Christmas miracle for the Steelers to win.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: And I don't think that the Lord is going to
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: be putting all of his Christmas magic into the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: So I think he's got If you're religious, I think
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: he's got other things that he needs to be focusing on.
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: So six ounds, Jesus put that bottle in the end
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: zone for the Steelers.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: There you go, say your prayers, all right. That takes
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: us to the regular season finale at home against the
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals.
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: So this is the point where I think that.
• 50:41
  Speaker 3: You know somehow every single year they always steer out
• 50:46
  Speaker 3: of the skid just to give.
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: You just the glimmer of hope.
• 50:49
  Speaker 3: So because there's seven spots, nine and eight can get
• 50:53
  Speaker 3: you into the playoffs, says could be a play on
• 50:58
  Speaker 3: you for the Bank or for the Steelers, so cookie
• 51:02
  Speaker 3: for the Bengals too.
• 51:02
  Speaker 2: Yep, So I think we win this one. It's at home.
• 51:11
  Speaker 3: Typically we tend to turn it up here in January.
• 51:17
  Speaker 3: So like I said, we went on quite as scared
• 51:22
  Speaker 3: when we were seven and five at one point eight
• 51:25
  Speaker 3: and five, and it'll end up at nine and eight
• 51:28
  Speaker 3: on my calculation, so we'll see.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna give them a win as well, just because
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: I think I think if the schedule plays out really
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: either way that you and I have and I think
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: we're again we're right next to each other. I'll double
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: check our numbers here in a second.
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: Two.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: I think there's a good chance that they'll be playing
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: for a playoff spot here, and I think given that
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: they're at home, knowing what's at stake, it's just even
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: if if it is Joe Burrow, it's just very difficult
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: to come in and win in that situation. So especially
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: when if you're the Bengals, you may or may not
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: already have a playoff spot locked into. I think the
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: Bengals are more likely to have a playoff spot locked
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: going into Week eighteen than the or Week nineteen. No
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: Week eighteen then the than the Steelers are not saying
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: they'll have home field advantage and that they'll be able
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: to just rest Joe Burrow because of that. But if
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: they already know that they've got the number three seed
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: locked up, no matter what one, they're not going to
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: play their starters into the ones that do play. It's
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: just different when you're not playing the starters. So I'll
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: give the Steelers the win.
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: There.
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: Let's see how many wins I've given them. I think
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: that was ten one two, three four or five six
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: seven eight nine ten, So I've got ten and seven again,
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: a repeat of last year. You one, two, three four
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: or five six seven eight You were correct, you had
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: nine and eight. So well, let me ask you this, then,
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: do you think that your prediction is good enough to
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: get them into the playoffs? And if so, is it
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: good enough to get a win?
• 53:18
  Speaker 3: Uh? So, let me look at the look at the standings.
• 53:25
  Speaker 3: I gotta look at like the teams because I think,
• 53:30
  Speaker 3: I mean, like the the AFC is so much harder
• 53:35
  Speaker 3: than the NFC. Yes, I mean our whole entire division
• 53:39
  Speaker 3: could get a spot in the playoffs, So you know,
• 53:46
  Speaker 3: I think with that in mind, nine and eight's probably
• 53:50
  Speaker 3: not gonna get us in. I think we pretty much
• 53:54
  Speaker 3: snuck in last year at ten and seven. If we
• 53:59
  Speaker 3: did make it, now we're gonna get blanked.
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: And again this goes back to what I said in
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: the very beginning. We are stalemate.
• 54:12
  Speaker 3: We are the exact same team, just different people wearing
• 54:16
  Speaker 3: the uniform as we've been.
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: And this is part of my frustration of like, at what.
• 54:22
  Speaker 3: Point is nine and eight another winning season under Tomlin's belt,
• 54:28
  Speaker 3: but not making the playoffs or a first round exit
• 54:32
  Speaker 3: good enough for the Steelers. And I think sometimes you
• 54:37
  Speaker 3: gotta take a step back take a step forward.
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm a little more optimistic than that just
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: looking at the schedule, looking at let's just assume that
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: they were the seven seed in my scenario, which is possible,
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: that's what they were this past year. I think, yeah,
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: because they had to play the Bills, who the Bills
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: were either out of the playoffs or like the second seed,
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: depending on what happened.
• 55:08
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: I think it's possible. It's definitely not likely though, that
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: they could sneak steel win in the playoffs. But kind
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: of going back to where we started, if things progress
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: for the Steelers, like again in theory, it should like, hey,
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: look at all these changes we've made, Look at all
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: these signings we've made. Look at what we did this offseason,
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: who we drafted, we hired to be our coordinator. Hey
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: you remember Kenny Pickett, Matt Canada. They're gone. We don't
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: have them anymore. But again, in theory and in practice
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: are two different things. So if the Browns take a
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: step back like you said they will, that opens the door.
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: If the Bills take a step back like as possible,
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: that could open a door. But then you got the
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: Dolphins and the Jets right there, and even down in
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: the af South, what do we expect out of Trevor
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: Lawrence is we're going to see him back.
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: C J.
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: Stroud was definitely the rookie of the year and led
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: the Texans far above what anyone expected them to be
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: last year. You expect them to build on that too,
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: And then of course you've got the Chiefs, so I
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: totally agree with you. It's a very, very, very deep conference,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: whereas in the NFC it just feels like it's the Eagles,
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers in the Lions.
• 56:35
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So I guess what I'm trying to get at is, yes,
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: it's a very deep conference, but it is it is
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: within the realm of possibility, at least based on what
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: we think we know now, which does not inspire a
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: lot of confidence. But hey, it's the NFL, right Yeah, Okay,
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: So a couple things happened this offseason. The big thing
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: for the Steelers specifically was the quarterback battle. We talked
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: about it a lot. When it happened, they got Russell
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: Wilson for the league minimum. They traded for Justin Fields
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: after they dumped Kenny Pickett, and it was posted, is
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: all this big breaking news that Russell Wilson was named
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: the starter, And I don't know, when I looked at it,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: my first thought was, I'm not really surprised, Like, yeah,
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: Tom Win never came out and said Russell Wilson is
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: our starter. He said he's in pole position. But were
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: you surprised at all? Around all the hoopla that surrounded
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: this breaking news announcement.
• 57:41
  Speaker 3: I think it was framed is like that, you know,
• 57:49
  Speaker 3: if you want to talk about a quarterback competition, I
• 57:52
  Speaker 3: thought that someone actually outplayed and then the coach actually
• 57:56
  Speaker 3: said that they outplayed him, and then they gave it
• 57:58
  Speaker 3: to someone else. Look at the Patriots, right, So Jacoby
• 58:01
  Speaker 3: Brissette gets the win over Drake may even though Jared
• 58:06
  Speaker 3: Mayo literally said that Drake May outplayed Jacoby Brissett.
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: I Russell didn't.
• 58:13
  Speaker 3: Play a lot this this preseason, but like Justin Fields,
• 58:17
  Speaker 3: also in the time that he did play, like his
• 58:22
  Speaker 3: first two games, he.
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: Had fumbles, like two fumbles.
• 58:25
  Speaker 3: So if there's one thing that you cannot do in
• 58:29
  Speaker 3: a Mike Tomlin led team, it's turned the ball over.
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: And to Kenny Pickett's.
• 58:37
  Speaker 3: Credit, I don't really remember him being a turnover machine.
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: So.
• 58:44
  Speaker 3: You know, that was why he you know, we I
• 58:50
  Speaker 3: felt like it was okay, like even though he had
• 58:53
  Speaker 3: like twelve touchdown passes over three seasons or whatever, so
• 58:58
  Speaker 3: that ridiculous. Is a quarterback, Joe Flacco had more touchdowns
• 59:05
  Speaker 3: in five weeks than Kenny Pickett has in his career. Right,
• 59:11
  Speaker 3: That's why Justin Fields is not going to be the
• 59:14
  Speaker 3: starter because he doesn't trust him to not put us
• 59:19
  Speaker 3: in a position that our defense.
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: Can win the game.
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, it was clear that Russell Wilson was
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: going to be the starter. I mean they brought him
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: in first. He can I don't I hate when people say, oh,
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: he can be a mentor and that person can then
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: take his job. I don't mean it like that. I
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: just mean that Justin Fields can absorb what he can
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: from Russ Wallly's there, and if they can sign both
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: of them after this year, great, I personally don't think
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: that's gonna happen. But but no, it just wasn't surprising
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: to me. I thought it was pretty clear all along
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: that both quarterbacks were comparable last year or so why
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: not go for the guy who's got the better experience.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: So yeah, that's what I'm about. And again I mentioned
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: that I really loved Russell Wilson as a leader, like
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: the intangibles, things he says and does, how he's it
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: is press conferences for example, you get that vibe from him.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: So so I'm pretty happy with him. I think Justin
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: Fields has handled it pretty well too, all things considering,
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: which I would hope is the case since he apparently
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: wanted to come to Pittsburgh. But overall, I think the
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: one thing that we haven't talked about is with both
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson and Kenny Pickett going, and I guess you
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: could say the same thing about Matt Canada, it seems
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: like they've taken action to get rid of some of
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: the negative attitudes in the locker room as well. So
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering, and again this is just the outsider looking in.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering if just all the positive reinforcement and the
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: better leadership in the locker room now and really just
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: the negativity being taken out of there, if we'll see
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: anything like a morale booster, or if we'll see that
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: reflected on the play as well. So we had like
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: Deontay Johnson getting into fights with coaches against the Browns
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: in that game we talked about that they lost, and
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: Minka Fitzpatrick having to step up and so those and
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: those are the things that, again they're not talked about
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: too much. And maybe maybe that's unfair of us to
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: say because we're not in the locker room, but it
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: seemed pretty night and day the way the Steelers were
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: playing last year when Kenny Pickett sat out when Mason
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: Rudolph came in, it seemed like there was a different
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: energy around the team. And maybe that's one of the
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: things that we're not taking into effect when we're looking
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: at this at the team this year, that maybe we'll
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: see a similar boost like that. We can hope anyway,
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: all right. And the other big thing that literally just
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: ended maybe a couple hours before you and I started recording,
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: is the drama surrounding the Brandon Ayuk trade. And for
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: those of you that live under a rock and don't know,
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: Ayuk had requested a trade from the forty nine Ers.
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: He had been looking for a new contract. They said
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: they were going to give it to him. He turned
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: down deals from the Patriots and the Browns, and then
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: he finally just said, okay, I want to play for
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: the Steelers. Khan put together a deal for him. I
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: think it was twenty eight million a year. The forty
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: nine Ers were currently at what they were at. Their
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: offer was I think twenty six million. Ayuk said he
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: was going to hold out, put it back in the
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: forty nine ers court, and ultimately the forty nine Ers
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: gave him thirty to thirty million a year and he
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: signed it today and is expected to go in week
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: one and everyone's happy and healthy and Francisco. But I
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: was pretty I was pretty impressed with how the Steelers
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: handled that. What I have, all things being equal, preferred
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: to get a good wide receiver to add to our
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: current room, absolutely, but I also don't want to pay
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: out the nose or overpay for a guy that literally
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 1: just held out from his other team because he wanted
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: a contract extension. I was happy that they came up
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: with a number that they thought was fair, they stuck
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: to it, and hey it didn't work, No big deal.
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: We'll do our thing, you do your thing.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 1: So any other thoughts that you have on that that
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: I didn't overtalk into.
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 3: So I guess my thought was we've talked about how,
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 3: like the Steelers had mentioned how they would prefer that
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 3: George Piggin's be the number one wide receiver, and we've
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 3: seen it with like the Bengals, they have a true
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 3: number one wide receiver, and they have a guy who
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 3: could be a number one wide receiver. So depending on
• 1:04:10
  Speaker 3: how you weigh a UK and George Pickens into that
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 3: equation and the inflation of our wide receiver contracts in
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 3: this league. I stilln't see how you're gonna afford two
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 3: guys in the payroll. So you give au can give him,
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 3: let's say, twenty eight million by the time that George
• 1:04:36
  Speaker 3: Pickens becomes eligible, which he is the last second round pick,
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 3: so he's four years, not five years. We don't have
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 3: a five year option. He's on year three. He's eligible
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 3: for a contracted session next year. I STI don't see
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 3: how the math worked. So you know, again, I not
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 3: to doubt the con artists, but I just never from
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 3: the beginning understood and how we were gonna get a
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 3: guy for that. And honestly, I'm just gonna like say
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 3: it to me, you look at like the guys that
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 3: make thirty million dollars a year, he's the worst, absolute
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 3: worst player to make thirty million dollars a year. And
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 3: that's not a knock on him, it's just he's a
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 3: complete overpay.
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 2: If you told me that he would make.
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 3: Twenty five million twenty two and a half, I would
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 3: be able to stomach it. I just don't see how
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 3: you could put him in the same realm of value
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 3: as TJ.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 2: Watt.
• 1:05:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's a fair assessment to take
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: of it too. Even if they had gotten Eyeu, You're
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: one hundred percent right. We got two quarterback contracts coming up,
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: we got other contracts coming up after this year. Something
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: would have had to have given, and I'm not exactly
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 1: sure what that would have been. Out. Like we've said
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: at the top, maybe Roman Wilson will really just step
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: up and blow us away like we hope he does.
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: Maybe Van Jefferson will have a higher year than we
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: all expected to, but who knows. In either case, it
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: didn't work out, and uh, he's going to stay with
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: the forty nine ers, And honestly, for him, I think
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: that was probably the better thing too, because the forty
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: nine ers are a better team and they are definitely
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 1: one of the teams that can win right now as
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: long as he's there, and he's getting paid more to
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: do it, so that's always a bonus too. So all right,
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: so let me ask you this. Did you do any
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: of your fantasy football drafting yet?
• 1:06:45
  Speaker 2: So you're gonna do that?
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 3: So, I I don't know if I told you last year,
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 3: I got kicked out in that league because I didn't challenge.
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 2: And then so now I just changed work rules and
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 2: I actually haven't seen that they have a work league.
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 3: But I essentially I am in a no man's land
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 3: where I don't have a league. No, and first time
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 3: probably twenty years, I'm sitting out of fantasy football. I
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 3: don't see how it goes. See if I like it
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 3: or not, that is.
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: That is interesting. You're going to be like, I don't know,
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm assuming you watched the league when
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: it was on TV. You'll be like. You'll be like
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: Pete when he he decided he was going to quit
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: fantasy football and then became really really good at his job.
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: Not that you're not good at yours now, but that
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: he was getting promoted left and right, and because all
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: of his energy was focused on work.
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: So I did the draft and it was I've got
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 1: a strange group of friends in this league. I gotta
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: be honest with you. It's two of my brothers and
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: all my younger brother's friends. And you know, first of all,
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: we had to determine the draft order, which is always
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: a challenge with these knuckleheads. And my idea was, hey,
• 1:08:21
  Speaker 1: we've got the new college football game out, why don't
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 1: we just do like a simulated tournament. We can even
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: the stats for the teams, just so it's not like
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: an Alabama versus North Texas situation. So let's just do that,
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: do a bracket whatever. Oh, I came in dead last,
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: so the Bearcats did not help me out. And because
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: I came in dead last, it wasn't that I was
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: going to pick tenth. It was okay, Joe, you won
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: the tournament, so you get to pick which number you
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: draft in the draft, and I think they all overthink
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: their strategies a little bit. So even though I came
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: in last, I ended up with the number one overall pick,
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: and I went with Christian McCaffrey. I am, I don't know.
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: Bjeon Robinson was ranked number two, and I just kind of,
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: like we've been talking about, I didn't know if I
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: could use my number one overall pick on him. But
• 1:09:16
  Speaker 1: so keep in mind when I read my team to
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: you that it was the Snake draft. So we go
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: from pick number one all the way to pick ten
• 1:09:25
  Speaker 1: and eleven or I'm sorry, picked twenty and twenty one.
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: So let's get your thoughts on this too. I have
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey round one, Round two, my boy Davante Adams
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: round three, Chris o'lave round four, Brandon Ayuk round five,
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 1: Mark Andrews. Round six, Najie Harris, and he was my
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: first running back since McCaffrey too. It was I was
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: kind of sweating there for a little bit. Round seven,
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: Molik Neighbors, Round eight, Ezekiel Elliott. Round nine, I took
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: mister irrelevant Brock Purty. Round ten, I picked up Jalen Warren. Wow,
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: he actually lined up with the value and where I
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: was picking, and I was like, well, at least if
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: either he or Nagy has a bad go of it,
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: at least I've got the other one. And at this
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: point I needed running backs pretty badly. Then I got
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: Jackson Smith and Jigba and round eleven, round twelve, Trey Benson,
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 1: He's the Cardinals running back. Round thirteen, Pat Fryarmouth. Round
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: fourteen picked up Caleb Williams, so we'll see if that
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: leads anywhere. And then the last two rounds with the
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: Ravens defense and the Bears kicker. So according to ESPN,
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: at the time I made the draft, my team was
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: projected to finish third overall, but we recent after the
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: draft was done, we the commissioner updated the divisions because
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: they were still last year's divisions. So now I'm down
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: around fifth, But overall, I was pretty happy with my team.
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: And I don't know PPR half no PPR.
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 2: Okay, I think looking at that though. Okay, so.
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, CMC to anchor your running backs, but you're putting
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 3: a lot away that aj or Zeke is gonna be
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 3: good because you're running back the situations little rough your
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 3: your wide receivers are great.
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: Yep. Yeah, and that was what concerned me too. I
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: was I was just glad that there was starting running
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: back available back when I was able to get the Naugy.
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 1: He would have been a total reach when I drafted,
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: like Mark Andrews for example, But it was kind of
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: just playing the board as it fell to me, and
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 1: I did not do a good job at predicting what
• 1:12:24
  Speaker 1: my friends were going to be picking. I was also
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: the only one, one of only two people that was
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: not physically present at the draft, so I wonder if
• 1:12:31
  Speaker 1: I missed out on something there. But regardless, the thing
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: that I did though was and I usually try to
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: do this. I did it last year as well, and
• 1:12:43
  Speaker 1: some of the times I've won the championship, I've done
• 1:12:46
  Speaker 1: one at twice. I feel like you just kind of
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 1: gotta take a risk, and I usually go all big
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: on one team. So there were a couple of years
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: in a row where I had the three Killer Bees
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: on the same team. So I was like, yeah, if
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: they have a bad game, it sucks, but you know,
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: four out of five games they're gonna put up big
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: numbers even if the Steelers don't win. Right, So you'll
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: notice I have Brock Purty, Christian McCaffrey, and Ayuk, so
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: if the forty nine Ers play well, I'll probably be
• 1:13:18
  Speaker 1: all right.
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: So, and plus I picked up Ayuk. I'm like, welp,
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: he's either going to be with my boy Brock Purty
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: or he's going to be playing with my boys Naugy
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: and Jalen. So either way, I got him right. Yeah,
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: I guess he could have sat out too. I didn't
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 1: think about that, but it all worked out, so now
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 1: it was interesting. I love fantasy football. I did. I
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 1: do the mock drafts and stuff. I think it's a
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: lot of fun. I haven't had to do a punishment yet,
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 1: and frankly, in this league in particular, I've been pretty
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: successful in the last couple of years. But the key
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 1: thing you have to know about me is I only
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: win the championship when DeVante is on my team. So
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: since he's on my team this year, I am back
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 1: in the running. Baby.
• 1:14:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there you go.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: All right. Well, we've been talking for a while here,
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 1: but it's been good discussion. We've had a lot to
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: catch up on. We neglected this for a little while,
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: which is fine. We have other life stuff going on.
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 1: But it's week one. We're back. I'm excited. Was there
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: anything else that you think we needed to touch on
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: before we signed off today?
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 2: I don't think so as a loaded one.
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: Loaded but well worth it. So you heard it here. First,
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: the Steelers are gonna either win ten or nine games,
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: and both of us think not very strongly, that the
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: Steelers will be one to zero come next Sunday. For
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: the world famous accountant Eric van Benschoten, I am Nick
• 1:14:48
  Speaker 1: Detulio and this has been another episode of the GameHouse
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: dot COM's Steelers Country Weekly.